1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator improved in a rotatable structure of a storage compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a refrigerator comprises a cabinet forming a storage compartment such as a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment, a cool air generator provided inside the cabinet and generating cool air, and a door opening and closing the storage compartment.
The cool air generator uses mainly a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, an evaporator, etc., and a thermoelectric semiconductor element so as to generate the cool air.
The refrigeration cycle comprises the compressor compressing a gaseous refrigerant into a high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant, a condenser condensing the compressed gaseous refrigerant into a liquid refrigerant, a capillary tube converting the liquid refrigerant into a low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant, and the evaporator evaporating the low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant so as to absorb latent heat of vaporization from a circumference of the evaporator, thereby generating the cool air.
The thermoelectric semiconductor element uses a thermoelectric phenomenon that generates and absorbs heat besides Joule heat according to a current direction when an electric current flows in a contact surface of a semiconductor material and a metal material. In the thermoelectric semiconductor element, an exothermic amount or an endothermic amount is adjustable according to a current intensity, and an exothermic direction and an endothermic direction are changeable according to a direction of a current flow. Further the thermoelectric semiconductor element has no mechanical parts so that the thermoelectric semiconductor element occupies a small space and operates without noise.
The thermoelectric semiconductor element is used in a refrigerator for a vehicle and in a refrigerator to store cosmetics, etc., as well as in a refrigerator to store food.
However, in a conventional refrigerator, the door opening and closing the storage compartment is provided in a predetermined direction, so that the refrigerator is inconvenient to use by a user situated in another direction.
Further, the conventional refrigerator is seated in a predetermined space such as a kitchen, the vehicle, etc., so that to carry the refrigerator is difficult.
Further, an upper surface of the conventional refrigerator is not effectively used.